What’s the best way to phrase requests for maximum compliance?

If a direction seems final, people just accept it, explains researcher Kristin Laurin, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Waterloo. But if there is a possibility that the rule won’t happen, they long for the freedom that they would be restricted from and look for ways to get around the regulation.

So whether you’re breaking it off with your girlfriend or asking an employee to take on a new project, the advice is the same: Be clear, firm, and direct. If you tell a rule in a definite and relevant manner, people are going to more likely embrace it and they won’t look for ways to cheat the rule, Laurin explains.